


the best i can do

by maybemaybenottt



Series: Eddie Diaz Week 2021 [4]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Romantic Gestures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-18 00:16:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29849694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maybemaybenottt/pseuds/maybemaybenottt
Summary: Eddie arrives home, and Buck is waiting.-Eddie week day 4-"I don't deserve this."+ guilt.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Series: Eddie Diaz Week 2021 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2188956
Comments: 10
Kudos: 180





	the best i can do

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from Your Song by Elton John.
> 
> I wrote this in like an hour while sleep deprived, enjoy.

The house is quiet when Eddie walks in the door, and Buck is waiting. He smiles up at him from his place on the couch, and that one simple thing is enough for Eddie to feel the stress from the last few hours of his shift start to fall away.   
  
"Hey," Eddie says, toeing off his shoes and coming closer. "I figured you'd be asleep by the time I got home."   
  
Buck shakes his head. "I wanted to wait for you." It's a small thing, but after so long of not having someone to come home to late at night, it makes Eddie's heart feel a little too big for his chest.   
  
Eddie moves to sit down next to him, but Buck's hand on his arm stops him. "Hold that thought," he says, standing.   
  
Eddie scowls at him, puzzled, but Buck just laces their fingers together and leads him to the sliding patio door, bringing them out into the backyard. The air is cool for a summer night, but the hand in his is warm -as is the smile on Buck's face- and he has to look away before he gets too drawn into it and forgets that they're even here at all.   
  
It's not until he does that, that he recognizes what's going on. The blanket laid out on the grass; the covered platter of meats, cheeses and fruit sitting on top; the soft music that drifts from the speaker as Buck presses play.   
  
"I figured you might need a bit of time to unwind after your shift," Buck explains.   
  
He squeezes Eddie's hand and drops it, kneeling down to start rearranging things on the blanket. Eddie stays still, taking everything in, and it all feels too good to be true -too good for _him._   
  
The stars above their heads; the cool breeze drifting around them; the small smile as Buck sits there expectantly, waiting -always willing to wait. It all paints such a perfect picture and Eddie's not even sure if he belongs in it.   
  
"Buck," he says quietly, trying not to disturb the stillness. "Why do you do all of this?"   
  
Buck instantly looks alarmed. "Do you not like it? If you just want to go right to bed I understand-"   
  
"No," Eddie says quickly. "No, I love it, I just-" He sighs. "I don't deserve this."   
  
"What?" Buck shakes his head, disbelieving. "Eddie, of course you do."   
  
"But I never-" He steps forward. "I never do anything like this for you."   
  
"I don't need you to. I don't do these things so that you'll return the favor, I do it because I love you."   
  
"I know that," Eddie says, because he does. Buck does so much for him and never asks for a thing in return, because that's just who he is. Selfless and loyal; loving without bounds and willing to share it with the world no matter how the world treats _him_.   
  
But why he's chosen Eddie, of all people, as a vessel to pour that love into, he still can't wrap his head around.   
  
"I've never been good at this stuff," Eddie says. "The surprises and grand gestures. Shannon always said I wasn't great at romance, but I want to be. You deserve it."   
  
Buck stands, moving closer to grasp Eddie's hands in his. "Eds, I know you love me. I don't need you to shout it from the rooftops for me to feel it."   
  
Eddie shakes his head. "But how? How do you know, if I never show it?"   
  
"Well, you tell me all the time," Buck says with an amused smile on his face -and it's true. Once he realised he _could_ say the words, he never wanted to stop. "But you do show me. Just in different ways."   
  
Eddie pauses. "How?"   
  
"By listening to me, and taking in everything I say, even when I know you don't care."   
  
Eddie laughs. "I care."   
  
"By bringing my favourite coffee order to the station in the morning."   
  
"You get grumpy without it."   
  
Buck smiles at the joke, but then his face settles into something more sincere. He brings a hand up to cup Eddie's cheek.   
  
"By trusting me with Christopher, no matter what," he says.   
  
Eddie shakes his head. "I know you'd never let anything happen to him."   
  
"See that's the thing, you _know_ me," Buck stresses. "You pay attention. You see me -every part, the good and the bad- and you love me anyway."   
  
Like that was ever a question. "How could I not?"   
  
Buck smiles. "All these small things, I notice them. They mean something, I know they do. And it's more than enough." He pauses, looking into Eddie's eyes, then adds; " _You're_ more than enough."   
  
Eddie swallows. "Yeah?"   
  
"Yeah." A soft kiss to his lips. "Don't ever change."   
  
They settle down onto the blanket to eat, letting the cool air close in around them as they press together for comfort. They talk, and laugh, and kiss, and each press of his lips against Buck's is a silent promise -to love him in every way possible, for as long as he can.  
  
He keeps it.  
  



End file.
